In the Shefford and Stotfold area, we have been considering the range of data that is available to us including current children living in the area as well as forecasts for new children being born and those moving into the area in the future. This reflects what we know to be the national picture with a decrease in birth rates and overall less emerging demand.
Changes like this have meant that the number of children we expect to need school places in the short to medium term has reduced. The previous model is no longer appropriate because it would create too many school places, which could have a negative impact on children’s education and place unnecessary pressure on school operations. This is because school funding is linked to the number of children being taught each year at that school.
Given the size of some of our smaller, rural schools, there are also constraints which mean at least two lower schools could not expand into a primary school teaching the same number of children each year (as previously planned).
We therefore need to continue to work with school leaders to develop a new plan meaning that these schools will not transition by September 2025. Whilst we recognise this is frustrating and unsettling for parents who want to plan their child’s school journey, please be assured that this is the right course of action to avoid longer-term uncertainty for schools’ futures. This is because we can plan for children that have already been born or are in school now, while ensuring that our plans can be flexible to meet longer-term school place needs, for instance, if birth rates increase in the future.
An example of this has been our completion of a brand-new secondary school in Houghton Regis called Houstone School, which was designed in such a way that allowed us to build for the current demand for school places, while also planning for a future expansion to enable the school to grow at the right time to welcome children from the emerging housing developments as they move into the area.
The relocation of Campton Academy will not take place as planned in September 2024, as there is no pressure for school places. The future relocation and planned expansion of Campton Academy will need to be considered as part of the wider two-tier planning for the Shefford and Stotfold to provide the best solution for our children’s education.
At this stage, we are not experiencing pressures for school spaces but we do acknowledge that some year groups in specific schools in this area are popular, and this has resulted in siblings not securing spaces at the same schools. We will continue to review admissions criteria to consider ways to improve this situation.